Bling and Birding

Today, at the end of a busy 3-day weekend, I finally got out of the house for a hike. The snow has all melted and we have been getting huge amounts of rain (more typical for us), so it was a pretty soggy hike.

A section of the Canemah trail

It has been an unusually dry winter here, though, so it was nice to feel like we were finally hydrated again.

Additionally, the water provided a little “bling” to the landscape and made even the boring browns of fallen leaves rather poetic.

A puddle covered these oak leaves

I saw a bald eagle gliding along the cliffs as I drove by earlier in the day, but I didn’t see him along my hike. I did meet a new resident: the brown creeper. This is a TERRIBLE name for this all-together charming bird. I had always wondered who was making the “tsee” noise but I could never figure it out. Today, however, when I looked up I finally caught a movement. And you needed movement to find him.

Brown Creeper

He looked like a moving piece of bark as he worked the tree. As I moved in for a better look (and hopefully a picture) I admire him work his way up the tree, then systematically move to the bottom of the next and work up again. At one point he was so close I was afraid he would start to work me!

As we ended our hike, I spotted an acorn woodpecker. I always admire the way this family (Downy, Acorn, Sapsucker, Pilated) are built alike. This one posed for a while before flying away.

Acorn Woodpecker

Spring is definitely coming… as I drove away I noticed a pair of red tail hawks circling… they aren’t ready to mate yet, but they are scoping out the territory.

Goodreads

Hiaasen is one of my favorite writers and with his YA books he tones down the dark side, but doesn't go warm and fuzzy either. This story was close to sweet, but still had enough acid to make it a good read.
I love his "reoccuring char...